Early history of ethnography and ethnology in the German enlightenment : anthropological discourse in Europe and Asia, 1710-1808
Vermeulen, H.F.
Citation
Vermeulen, H. F. (2008, November 12). Early history of ethnography and ethnology in the German enlightenment : anthropological discourse in Europe and Asia, 1710-1808. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/1887/13256
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Early History of Ethnography and Ethnology in the German Enlightenment
Han F. Vermeulen
Ethno gra ph y a nd E thno log y in the G erma n E nlig hte nme nt H an F . V er m eu len
Socio-cultural anthropology originated in the field in Siberia and was developed in academic centers in Göttingen and Vienna during the eighteenth century. German-speaking scholars invented and practiced a science of peoples designated as Völker-Beschreibung (1740), ethnographia (1767-71), Völkerkunde (1771-75), and ethnologia (1781-83). The German tradition influenced scholars in Russia, the Netherlands, Austria, Hungary, Switzerland, and Bohemia, as well as in France, the United States, and Great Britain. Historiography has largely ignored these developments. To correct this omission, the early actors are introduced
and their work is placed in a historical, academic, and political context.
